To Sacramento, From Friartown
Devin Carter drafted 13th overall to Sacramento Kings
As I get a little older I’ve realized just how rare it is to be able to witness people achieve their lifelong dreams. Granted it happens more in sport than in various other walks of life, but still, it’s pretty special to see. That’s exactly what Friartown saw last night when Devin Carter was selected 13th overall in the 2024 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings.
For Carter it is the culmination of more than a decade of dedication to the grind of getting better day by day. “No, it’s not a surprise.” Carter told the local media, “I trust God and everything he has planed for me. I definitely put in a lot of work, countless hours every night and every morning with my dad, coach Kim at Providence… it’s been a long ride.” It was a special night for the Carter family, for everyone in Friartown, and hopefully for the Sacramento Kings franchise. Let’s dive in to what it means for each.
Devin Carter:
Carter joins a Sacramento team that is on the ascent in the NBA. They have an All-NBA lead guard in De’Aaron Fox who has been the catalyst of Sacramento’s recent success. Carter also joins a team that has a bit of a crowded backcourt at the moment, and given the realities of life in the NBA (especially for rookies) he’ll need to carve out a role his inaugural season by playing stellar defense, rebounding at a high level and generally making plays that contribute to winning.
To be clear, Carter is going to have to compete for every opportunity he gets, the Kings do have one of the more crowded backcourts in the league. The good news is, that is exactly what Carter does best, compete. His ability to hit the occasional open 3 when defenses collapse around his teammates will be the determining factor of whether he has a great versus a good rookie campaign, but given the amount of space he’ll have to operate compared to his time at Providence, I’m rather high on his ability to immediately contribute on the offensive end.
Perhaps most importantly, Carter is going to a team that is currently defined by their stability and commitment to winning. It is a fact that not every team in the NBA is actively trying to win each year and I won’t bore you with the details of why, but suffice to say rookies that get drafted to those teams have an uphill battle facing them. Sacramento is not one of those teams. They’ve been a playoff team each of the last two seasons (losing in the first round to Golden State in 2023 and in the play-in this past season), and just signed head coach Mike Brown to a 3 year contract extension. This is a franchise, led by general manager Monte McNair, that has a clear plan for how they are going to achieve success. This is a great environment for Devin Carter to get drafted into.
Sacramento Kings:
For the Kings fans who ended up here wondering what type of player you’re going to be getting in Devin Carter, I wrote at length about his NBA comparisons last week. The long and short of it is, Carter is a player who will likely end up as a cross between Derrick White and Jrue Holiday. Not half bad! Carter drastically improved his 3 point shooting his junior season at Providence (with significantly less space to operate than he’ll see in the NBA) and proved himself as a big shot taker and a big shot maker all season long.
Carter also developed as a passer / playmaker as the year went on, and what impressed me most from his Big East Player of the Year campaign was his willingness to always make the extra pass when it was the right basketball play.
And of course, his defensive ability speaks for itself.
Carter is not a project draft pick. He is ready to contribute now to the bottom line, winning.
Kim English + The Program:
For those of us left living and dying with everything the Providence Friars do, it’s a bittersweet moment. Sweet for all of the obvious reasons, but not getting to watch Carter don the Friars jersey one more time does sting a bit. Alas, even as he was sitting in the NBA Draft green room last night he was actively recruiting class of 2026 guard Amir Jenkins for Kim English & Co.
If that ain’t a ringing endorsement for the Program then I just don’t know what is. Carter becomes the 12th first-round pick in Program history, and 44th overall draft pick to come out of Providence. Obviously, Carter also become the first lottery pick since Kris Dunn nearly 8 years ago and only the 3rd lottery pick in Program history. This is a massive resumer booster for Kim English as well, who prior to last night had never coached an NBA draft pick.
English can now point to Carter’s ascension up the draft boards over the last year as proof positive that he can turn fringe second rounders into lottery pick in just 14 months. That is music to the ears of every single recruit the coaching staff is currently in pursuit of (including Jaylen Harrell, who is set to officially choose between Providence, Rutgers, Xavier, Alabama and Kansas next Monday) .
As for me, I’ll miss the hell out of Devin Carter. By my count he single handedly won the Friars at least 4 different games this past season. He deserves this moment, and many more. But if I were a gambling man, I would venture to guess that we won’t have to wait another 8 years before we have another lottery pick coming out of Friartown.